Luo Yingtong lifted her leg and continued walking inside.
Xu Jintang looked around. After entering the iron gate, the air became humid, and the green plants on both sides of the road became more lush.
Before long, a row of iron cages stretching as far as the eye could see came into view.
"Roar--"
As the howls rang out, the row of demonic beasts inside the iron cage revealed their sharp claws and pounced on the cage, struggling to get out.
Yan Yuting was startled, and her face turned deathly pale instantly.
The monster bared its teeth, its eyes filled with murderous intent and ferocity, as if it would leap out of its cage at any moment and tear her to shreds.
"Scared already?" Luo Yingtong turned her head and glanced indifferently at Yan Yuting.
To her surprise, Xu Jintang seemed quite calm, and even had a hint of eager excitement on his face.
Yan Yuting swallowed hard, quickly regaining her composure. "I'm not afraid."
"Are you afraid that you can't decide for yourself?" Luo Yingtong lifted her leg and approached the iron cage opposite her. As she got closer, the monster inside the cage attacked the iron bars even more frantically, and the ear-piercing sound of its claws scraping against the iron cage rang out.
Even so, Luo Yingtong was completely unaffected, and even reached out and touched the iron cage with her finger.
"The iron cages here are made of rare metals, so the monsters inside can't possibly escape. You don't need to worry about safety." Luo Yingtong withdrew her hand. "What you need to do today is touch the iron cages."
Yan Yuting's eyes widened. "But... won't we get scratched by the monsters like this?"
Luo Yingtong looked at her and said, "As long as you don't put your hands inside, the monsters won't hurt you in the slightest. If you want to go to the battlefield, first of all you must have the courage to look directly at and approach the monsters. If you can't even do that, what kind of military academy are you attending!"
"Report," Xu Jintang stepped forward, "I'm willing to give it a try."
Luo Yingtong turned to Xu Jintang and said, "Then you go first and give your teammates a demonstration."
"Yes!" Xu Jintang walked calmly toward the iron cage.
Chapter 57
Yan Yuting looked at Xu Jintang with a tense gaze, her expression seemingly filled with worry.
As Xu Jintang approached, the monster in the iron cage became even more agitated, its roars growing increasingly piercing, and the murderous aura emanating from it was far beyond anything the virtual monsters in the simulated battlefield could match.
Luo Yingtong crossed her arms in front of her, observing Xu Jintang's every move.
She thought Xu Jintang would show some fear once she got close to the iron cage, but she was disappointed.
Xu Jintang stood by the iron cage and naturally reached out and lightly touched it.
At this moment, the monster inside the cage suddenly opened its blood-red maw and pounced.
A strong stench of blood filled the air.
Xu Jintang turned to look at Luo Yingtong, "Is this all you need?"
Luo Yingtong was stunned.
Military academy students who used to intern here would be so frightened by the roar of a real monster that their legs would go weak and they would sit on the ground.
It seems she underestimated them.
"Okay, next." Luo Yingtong snapped out of her reverie and looked at Yan Yuting. "You go."
Yan Yuting took a deep breath and stepped towards the iron cage opposite.
The reason why real monsters are even more terrifying is that when facing them, one is closer to death.
But as Sister Tong just said, the iron cage will not be broken.
These monsters are just bluffing.
Yan Yuting raised his arm, about to touch the iron cage, when the monster opposite him became agitated and lashed out with its two claws.
Her arm trembled slightly, then she took a deep breath, continued moving her hand forward, her fingertips lightly touching the iron cage. After silently counting to three, Yan Yuting withdrew her hand, turned around, and asked, "Is this... alright?"
Luo Yingtong was a little surprised not to see the two of them crying their eyes out in fright.
She sized them up. "Okay, that's fine."
She had initially thought she would spend a lot of time there, so she didn't make any other plans afterward.
The results of Xu Jintang and the other person's performance were quite unexpected.
Luo Yingtong pondered for a moment, "That's perfect. Tomorrow morning I can ask Captain Miao to let you experience the beast fighting."
A hint of curiosity rose in Xu Jintang's eyes. "What is beast fighting?"
Yan Yuting also looked over.
Luo Yingtong pointed to the iron cages on both sides, "The army keeps demonic beasts in captivity to ensure that everyone can conduct real combat training with real demonic beasts at any time. We call this training beast fighting."
"Furthermore, since raising demonic beasts requires a huge investment of manpower and resources, each demonic beast is a valuable asset to the army. During beast fights, we are prohibited from killing the demonic beasts; we only need to defeat them until they are incapacitated to fight, and that is considered a victory."
Xu Jintang quickly understood; it just meant fighting monsters.
"Real monsters have brains; they can think, they will fight to the death, and they will tear your body apart at all costs. They are far more ferocious than the monsters simulated in the battlefield simulation."
Luo Yingtong said calmly, "I will accompany you throughout tomorrow's beast-fighting training to ensure your safety. However, injuries are inevitable during beast fights, so I hope you are prepared."
"There's nothing else today. You two can wander around the team as you like, but don't run around or cause trouble." After giving these instructions, Luo Yingtong turned around and went to attend to her own business.
After she disappeared, Yan Yuting moved closer to Xu Jintang, "Squad leader, are you nervous? Tomorrow we'll be fighting real monsters."
Xu Jintang remained calm, "Fortunately, our previous academy teachers had led us in real battles against real monsters, so it wasn't that terrifying."
"You've actually fought a real demonic beast!" Yan Yuting exclaimed in surprise. "I've never even seen a real demonic beast before. In my memory, many demonic beasts are dull and lifeless, and some will even stand still and let you hit them. But today, when I came into contact with this real demonic beast, just its eyes were terrifying."
With nothing to do, the two chatted as they walked back to the logistics area.
At this moment, a long queue had formed at the logistics window, and it was unclear what everyone was queuing up to receive.
"Junior Sister Jintang, what are you doing here?" Zhu Xiangming had just finished collecting the supplies from the window and was about to leave when he saw Xu Jintang and her companion. He took the initiative to walk over and strike up a conversation.
"We just finished interacting with the monsters. Sister Tong, who's been with us, said she'll take us to experience beast fighting tomorrow. We're free now, so we can wander around on our own," Yan Yuting replied with a smile.
Zhu Xiangming looked at the two of them with surprise, "You two completed the monster contact training so quickly?"
Xu Jintang nodded.
Yan Yuting explained, "It was quite scary at first, but I got used to it and it felt okay."
"Our students at Leikedasi have really good mental fortitude," Zhu Xiangming remarked.
He had previously led a group of trainee soldiers, and the scene on their first day of encountering real demonic beasts... was simply unbearable to watch.
"Senior, what are we getting in line for?" Xu Jintang asked, his gaze falling on the queuing window behind him.
Zhu Xiangming glanced back. "Those of you receiving logistical supplies, don't you have a kind of auxiliary ability that allows you to produce food or snacks? Eating these provides a boost to the ability user. The logistics team distributes a batch of these supplies every day, first come, first served."
Xu Jintang quickly realized that these supplies should be similar to Yuting's toast.
"Are you blind?! Can't you see Captain Jay is here? Get out of the way!" An arrogant voice suddenly came from behind.
Xu Jintang turned around.
Then, He Yingjie and his group, whom I had just seen that morning, swaggered over.
Zhu Xiangming clearly recognized him as well, and quickly pulled Xu Jintang and the other person to stand aside, lowering his voice to remind them, "Don't mess with these people."
Before he could explain in detail, a long whip suddenly lashed out, striking Xu Jintang with lightning speed.
Xu Jintang's eyes darkened, and he raised his hand to grasp the whip, forcefully lashing it back.
"Captain Jay, she's the one who hit me this morning!" The man with the whip immediately turned around and complained.
He Yingjie looked Xu Jintang up and down, his expression somewhat nonchalant. "Are you a student from Leikedasi who came here for an internship?"
Xu Jintang, without looking to the side, raised his head and said, "Yes."
"I heard you're pretty good, huh? You beat our frontline team to a pulp." He Yingjie sneered, stretching out his palm and cracking his fingers one by one.
"It's alright," Xu Jintang replied truthfully.
Seeing the situation turning sour, Zhu Xiangming quickly stepped forward to smooth things over, "Captain Jie, someone of your status doesn't need to make things difficult for a trainee. If they did anything wrong, I apologize on their behalf."
He Yingjie's face darkened, and his cold gaze, as if looking at an ant, turned to Zhu Xiangming. "My affairs are none of your business. Don't come here to play the good guy. Get lost."
After saying that, He Yingjie gave his henchmen a look, "Take them both away! Listen up, everyone in the logistics team, go tell Miao Ruijia that if she still wants these two, she should come and beg me in person!"
Xu Jintang frowned. "Why should we be taken away?"
Yan Yuting clenched her hands, silently moved closer to Xu Jintang, and stared warily at the person opposite her.
Seeing that the two were actually trying to resist, He Yingjie laughed instead of getting angry, "You're really like newborn calves that aren't afraid of tigers. You don't think you're still like you were in military school, do you?"
He Yingjie walked step by step towards Xu Jintang, a smirk playing on his lips as he stared at her. "Once you're here, you have to abide by the rules of the army. I rose to my current rank of second lieutenant through countless battles, while you are nothing. According to military regulations, I have the right to deal with you at any time. Tell me, what gives me the right?"
Xu Jintang raised her eyes, a cold glint flashing within them. "Because I'm not one of your soldiers. If you dare lay a finger on us today, our homeroom teacher will wipe you out tomorrow!"
Yan Yuting immediately understood and chimed in, "That's right, our homeroom teacher is at the Peak Seventh Tier!"
Although military academy students are looked down upon, few dare to really harm them, since the instructors at the five major military academies are all protective of their own.
He Yingjie's expression changed slightly, and a dark glint flashed in his eyes.
" He Yingjie, you shameless bastard! You can't beat our logistics team, so you're taking it out on our new recruits, huh?! Do you believe I'll report you to the captain?" Miao Ruijia's furious shouts came from outside.